Cooper and Fry Crime Fiction Series Books 1-3: Black Dog, Dancing With the Virgins, Blood on the Tongue

Tailby paused, like an actor savouring the effect, trying to get his timing just right.

‘Mr Edwards further states that he followed a movement in the undergrowth of something black, only to find the head of a dog appearing in his view. Due to the small field of vision of binoculars of that power, he took them away from his face and with unaided vision saw a man with a dog. We believe from Mr Edwards’s statement that this was near the spot where Laura Vernon was found. The time: approximately seven-fifteen.’

There was a little stir of excitement. The bird-watcher had been in position within an hour of the incident, on a good vantage point, with a powerful pair of binoculars. Who could ask for anything better? What more had the twitcher seen?

Cooper observed that Fry had been scribbling notes rapidly, turning over the page with the spiders and turning again. Now she was sitting bolt upright, alert and eager. He could see that she was getting ready to take the first opportunity to put in a question, to make sure she was noticed.

‘Unfortunately for us,’ said Tailby, ‘Mr Edwards then completely lost interest in the area of woodland. He reasoned that the human and canine presence would disturb the bird population. Particularly the pied flycatcher, which is of a somewhat secretive and sensitive nature, apparently. His attention returned to the merlins. Mr Edwards then remained on Raven’s Side until nine-thirty approximately, but he saw nothing further of interest to us.’

Fry stirred. ‘Over two hours, sir? What was he doing all that time?’

‘Yes. DC Fry, isn’t it? That is a question that was put to him, Fry. He states that he was waiting for dusk on the chance of observing little owls hunting.’

‘Tell him to get a life,’ said someone from the back.

‘I don’t need to point out that this could be an absolutely vital witness,’ said Tailby, ignoring the interruption.

Ben Cooper raised a hand. ‘The man with the dog, sir. Are we thinking it was Harry Dickinson? According to Dickinson’s statement, he walks in that area regularly.’

‘Unfortunately, Mr Edwards wasn’t able to give us a description. He was too far away, and did not study the man through his binoculars.’

There were general sighs of disappointment.

‘More interested in pied flycatchers than people,’ said the same voice.

‘However, Mr Dickinson will be spoken to again today,’ said Tailby. ‘In the initial interview he was not asked about Saturday evening. It may be that he was on the Baulk at that time and he saw something useful. Mr Dickinson will be among the actions for the morning.’

‘It would be a bit of a coincidence, wouldn’t it, sir?’

‘How so, Cooper?’

‘I mean, Dickinson being in the area at the time Laura Vernon was killed and maybe seeing the murderer. And two days later being in the same area and finding the trainer which led us to her body. That’s what we’re saying here, isn’t it? A bit of a coincidence, surely.’

‘What would be your interpretation, Cooper?’

‘I think we ought to press Harry Dickinson harder.’

Tailby frowned. ‘At the moment we are not considering him as a suspect, merely a potentially useful witness.’

‘But if –’

‘Now,’ said Tailby, turning away, ‘we have to look at the immediate family. Obviously, we need to bear in mind the possibility of a family row of some kind. The parents have to be under suspicion.’ Tailby waited for somebody to ask him why. No one did. But he told them anyway. ‘Murders occur mostly within families. The statistics tell us this.’

All the faces in the room continued to look at him expectantly.

‘For that reason, we will be looking more closely at the Vernons. Particularly the relationship between Laura Vernon and her father. I have spoken to Graham Vernon myself, and I have to tell you I’m not happy in that respect.’

‘Haven’t we got a TV appeal lined up with him, sir?’

‘Yes, with both parents, in fact. That’s scheduled for the morning. We will, of course, be watching them closely during the appeal.’

Cooper saw Fry nodding calmly, as if it was perfectly normal to suspect parents of murdering their own daughter. He wondered what cases she had worked on in the past to feel like that, or whether it was as a result of experiences in her own family. The thought made him feel very sad. His own family had been a totally happy one, and he thought the destruction of a family was the worst thing that could happen to anyone.

‘And then there’s the brother,’ Tailby was saying. ‘Daniel Vernon. Nineteen years old and a student at Exeter University. We’re led to believe that he was away in Exeter at the time that Laura went missing, and has only now arrived back in Moorhay. But we checked, and his term doesn’t start for another two weeks. So what has he been doing? I need his movements tracing – when did he leave and how did he get back? From a brief look at him earlier this afternoon, I’d say he was a pretty angry young man. On the other hand, you don’t need me to tell you that the victim’s family must be treated with care. I don’t want any complaints about officers being heavy-handed or insensitive.’

The DCI paused to allow this to sink in, then turned to gesture at an impressive aerial photograph of Moorhay, taken by the helicopter crew and blown up to enable the probable route of Laura Vernon’s last journey to be superimposed on to it.

‘Meanwhile, I intend to begin a full search of the Vernons’ garden,’ he said. ‘This is in view of the possibility that Laura may have met someone there shortly before she was killed. Remember the sighting of her talking to a young man earlier in the evening. We need to find evidence to establish the identity of that young man. It is, however, a very large garden.’

The officers in the incident room could see that there were extensive lawns and flower beds in the Vernons’ garden, along with two greenhouses and a small summerhouse, as well as plenty of odd corners near the back, where a gate led out on to the hillside path.

The area of pale scrub where Laura had last been seen was clearly visible between the back wall of the garden and the vast expanse of dark woodland. The long shadows of a line of conifers fell across the patchy gorse of the scrubland like the bars of a cage.

‘We are also following up Laura’s other contacts. DI Hitchens’s team is gradually piecing together her background. We believe she had at least one regular boyfriend, according to what her classmates tell us. The parents deny this, but we all know parents, don’t we? They’re the last people to find out. The youth’s name is Simeon. That’s with an “e”. We don’t have a surname yet, and apparently he doesn’t attend the same school as Laura Vernon did. DS Morgan is confident of tracing him, though. Yes, Luke?’

‘Absolutely.’

‘As you know, DI Armstrong is working on the known offenders list and possible links to the Susan Edson case in B Division. There are some similarities on the surface. The age and sex of the victim, obviously. But note the fact that an item of clothing is missing in both instances – in Laura Vernon’s case, a Reebok trainer. In the Edson case, a pair of tights. It is likely these are now in the possession of the attacker or attackers. Please be aware of this. But we follow up all possible lines of enquiry. We are not assuming a definite link at this stage. But I confess to a certain concern in that respect.’

The murmurs of agreement sounded like the low rumble of a lorry outside, or the muttering of a disappointed crowd in the stand across the road when Edendale FC had lost again. Ben Cooper felt something equally distant and unidentifiable grumbling deep in his mind – a dark, hovering anxiety that growled and whined and threatened to emerge from where it was lurking and rip the certainties out from under him. But it was something that was impossible to pin down among the other worries that swirled about in there, all the other things he hardly dared to think about.

‘Also, no murder weapon has yet been identified,’ said Tailby. ‘The nature of the injuries suggests a hard, solid object. Scientific Support are still at the scene and will continue the search, and I remain hopeful. Two sets of prints have been taken from the trainer, but they match only with the victim’s own prints and those of Mr Dickinson, who was printed for comparisons. However, as you will see, we do have a very promising piece of forensic evidence. I refer to the suspected bite mark on the victim’s thigh. The services of a forensic odontologist have been obtained, with the intention of obtaining a cast of the bite which can be matched to the teeth of a perpetrator.’

Around the room, officers could be seen whispering to each other as they asked what an odontologist was.

‘Obviously,’ said the DCI, ‘a priority remains Lee Sherratt. Sadly, we’ve drawn a blank on his whereabouts so far. His mother states she doesn’t know where he is and hasn’t seen him since Sunday afternoon. He is, she says, “a bit prone to wandering off”. Whatever that means. We would very much like to interview Lee Sherratt in connection with the killing of Laura Vernon. All officers are being issued with his photograph. Keep your eyes open.’

Ben Cooper jerked to attention. His mind had been drifting away again. It was almost as though DCI Tailby’s last words had been addressed directly to him. Yes, he needed to keep his eyes open. If he didn’t, the dark thing that lurked and whined might jump out at him before he could see it.

Charlotte Vernon lay on the sofa in the sitting room at the Mount. She was wearing nothing but a black satin print wrap, but her hair was washed and brushed and she had made up her face and painted her toenails. Though Graham would normally enjoy the sight of his wife’s body, today he felt waves of growing irritation that she had not yet taken the trouble to get dressed. Somehow, her nakedness seemed emblematic of the stripping away of an important veneer from their lives, a lowering of standards that he feared could symbolize the gradual disintegration of the family.

‘He can’t do this,’ said Graham. ‘We can’t let him.’

‘And how do you intend to stop him?’ asked Charlotte. ‘He hasn’t felt the need to listen to you for years.’

‘I thought … You could speak to him, couldn’t you, Charlie?’

‘He might listen to me,’ she agreed.

‘Well then. Catch him before he goes out.’

‘I didn’t say I would do it.’

‘Why on earth not?’

Charlotte considered, reaching for the glass that never seemed to be far away these days.

‘It would help him to get it off his chest.’